Kicking on

He finished last season as Munster’s Heineken Cup final full-back, but this term Denis Hurley is sampling some of the flip-sides of professional sport — including the injury which looks set to keep him out of tonight’s clash. EDWARD NEWMAN reports.

WHEN HE burst onto the Munster scene in last April’s Heineken Cup quarter-final against Gloucester at Kingsholm, his arrival was like a whirlwind, a breath of fresh air.

Pencilled in as the possible heir apparent to Shaun Payne for some months, he didn’t let himself down when thrust into the fire. Few if any had expected Declan Kidney to pick him for such a pivotal game. Wasn’t he was always one for easing players into top-flight rugby? In the end, the glare of the European spotlight didn’t blind Hurley. Instead he shone.

Life was also moving pretty fast for him. He was amongst the fresh-faced 20-somethings making their mark last season, bracketed alongside Luke Fitzgerald, Robert Kearney and Darren Cave as the future faces of Irish rugby; a young man with international honours within his grasps. If deemed good enough to take the place of Payne — a paragon of consistency at full back for the province since 2003 — then who could argue that the No 15 shirt was his for keeps now? It would take someone special to take it from him.

Then Keith Earls arrived. A phenomenon who has become the only show in town this season, and Tony McGahan’s decision to rotate between Earls, Howlett and Paul Warwick at full back has pushed Hurley down the pecking order — and back into AIL rugby. Hurley’s story is proof how quickly things can change in the cut-throat environment of professional rugby; a rugby lesson to demonstrate how quickly one can become yesterday’s hero.

A level-headed, mature 24-year-old, Hurley admits he didn’t get carried away by the hype that accompanied his rise last season, and he isn’t about to start complaining about his current predicament. He accepts where he is now, and is prepared to work hard, make the sacrifices, and win back his place again. But coping with the disappointment of not being first choice No 15 cannot be easy.

“It’s part disappointment and frustration,” he admits. “Obviously I’d love to be holding that jersey but, in this day and age in the professional era, you find that every year is different. Last year happened; it was fantastic and it was great to be involved and get to the stage I got to. But it just hasn’t happened yet for me this year.

“What can I do? I just keep working on what I’m best at; work on negative points and try to improve myself, and, hopefully, get back into the side again. But with the competitive nature of the game as it is today, you’re not always going to get in there; other players get their shot and they do well, so it’s up to yourself to keep your head down and work hard on what you can do and try get back up there again. It will be a climb. I’m well aware of that.”

While quarter- and semi-final victories over the ‘Glaws’ and then Saracens marked his arrival and high points as a full back of real substance, and someone able to handle the pressure-cooker of Cup competition, the final against Toulouse only conjured up his worst fears. He was studying hard that month, preparing for end of year exams in a post-grad accounting and corporate finance course.

Ronan O’Gara sensed something not quite right in training days before the final. “Denis was a bag of nerves at full-back,” wrote the Munster flyhalf in his recently published autobiography. “He had just finished exams and then he was straight into the biggest game of his life. His mistakes were being highlighted too much in training. I said it to a couple of lads on Tuesday. He needed to be picked up. Praised. Over-praised. But then the day comes and nobody can hold your hand. I was about the same age as Denis in my first final. I haven’t forgotten how hard that was and how many mistakes I made. You go through it and come out the other side. He’s going to be a star for us.”

O’GARA’S confidence in Hurley’s ability is reassuring for someone who has endured plenty of setbacks. Patience could also be described as Hurley’s strongest virtue. Ask his coaches at UCC or Cork Con about his work ethic and they’d attest to his diligence on the training paddocks, qualities that has made him, arguably, the most consistent player in the All Ireland League for the last four years. They’d tell you also that anything he has got in life, he has worked hard for.

And Hurley tells you that he was playing more with Con than with Munster before his provincial career really kicked off, so finding himself back at Temple Hill away from the glamour and glitz of Munster’s big days doesn’t faze him in the slightest. Con is home to him. They’ve been very good to him, he says.

“I don’t think I’m the finished article, and I didn’t think I was the finished article when I got the cap in the Heineken Cup last April. I was delighted to get a shot at European rugby, but I got it on the back of hard work and doing what I do best. Obviously if I want to step up the grade again, I still need improving on things I find I’m not fully accomplished with. You look at some of the players at Munster, like Doug Howlett or Rua Tipoki, they’re constantly practicing, constantly striving to better themselves. They still work on their passing to this day. No matter what grade of player you think you are, you could be the top international player, but you’re still going to be working on things.”

O’Gara also described Hurley as a serious athlete. Standing 6ft 2in tall, his aerial prowess is one of his stronger points, but he takes a good line like the best full backs, while his kicking ability of either the grubber or garryowen variety isn’t too shabby either. Just ask Doug Howlett who was fortunate to get on the end of one of his grubbers and touch down in last season’s quarter-final win over the Cherry and Whites.

Often termed a decent footballer as well, those skills can be attributed to playing Gaelic at St Patrick’s College in Navan, where Meath legend Colm O’Rourke was his coach.

Denis is son of former Munster hooker, Gerry, who hails from Kealkil, outside Bantry in west Cork, and was replacement hooker the day Munster beat the All Blacks in 1978. Denis himself was born in Ballineen, also in west Cork, but at a young age his father’s work first took the family to California before they returned to Ireland and settled in Kells. He boarded for three years at Castleknock College in Dublin before completing his studies at St Pat’s and, while dabbling in Gaelic football, rugby was his first love and Navan RFC was where he first grew to prominence. So much so that he wanted a cut off Schools Cup rugby, particularly back in his father’s province. He repeated his leaving cert at St Munchin’s College, playing in the Munster Senior Cup in 2003 before moving onto UCC to study commerce where he also caught the eye of the Munster Academy scouts. He describes winning the All Ireland U20 Cup with College as amongst his earliest highlights.

His greatest influence is his father, who was part of Tom Kiernan’s squad that downed the mighty All Blacks and sparked this reunion match 30 years on.

“He was a sub in ‘78,” says Hurley. “Unfortunately he didn’t get a run. He attended Pres and played with both UCC and Sunday’s Well. Back then, work took precedence over rugby.

“He’s always regretted times where he might have had a chance of getting into the Munster team but he hadn’t time. He still loves being regarded as part of that squad that beat the All Blacks though. They meet up for dinners or at Munster games. It’s a massive achievement for any provincial club to be able to beat an All Black side and it’s a big occasion this time round for him, especially if I was to play.”

That opportunity is unlikely after Hurley picked up a knee injury in friendly against UL Bohemians last Tuesday. It can only be described as another blow to a player in search of redemption, but unselfishly he recognises how special the night will be for his team-mates, and for the people of Munster.

“The players want to be involved in that game. You can see the intensity pick up in training. It’s massive opportunity for a lot of people to be able to play an international side — it’s not often you get those chances and I think the whole squad is tuning into the fact that game has arrived. There’s a lot of competition rising out of that and there’s the possibility that the international players won’t be involved. That opens the doors for squad players to get a game.”

He recognises the size of the task against Graham Henry’s All Blacks. Even if Henry picks a reserve side, he knows the All Blacks have players who want to stake their claim for their remaining Test matches. “I don’t think any player on his (Henry’s) squad would say, ‘I’m a second rate player’.

“At the same time they know about Munster as well; they know the tradition here so they’ll come with a lot to show and a lot to prove. That side will be firing on all cylinders and Munster must be prepared.”

Denis Hurley was speaking at an event to mark Lucozade Sport's continued sponsorship of Munster.